NJPW reveals G1 Climax blocks, Omega to face Ibushi
The first Kenny Omega vs. Kota Ibushi match in New Japan Pro Wrestling will be taking place this summer.
After announcing the participants for the tournament on Sunday, the blocks for this year’s G1 Climax were revealed today. Omega and Ibushi, who reunited as the Golden Lovers earlier this year and then became the Golden Elite with The Young Bucks, will both be in the B Block and will be facing each other at some point.
In the A Block, Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi are set for another match after headlining Wrestling Dontaku night two in May. That latest chapter in their rivalry ended with Okada breaking Tanahashi’s consecutive title defense record before losing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to Omega.
NJPW will announce when the top matches for the tournament will be taking place tomorrow. If Omega vs. Ibushi is scheduled for the block finals, they’ll again be facing off at Budokan Hall, which was home to their match against each other for DDT in 2012.
The G1 will begin on July 14 and conclude with three straight nights at Budokan Hall from August 10-12. Each wrestler will face everyone else in their block along the way, with the person with the most points advancing to the finals and facing the winner of the opposite block. Whoever wins the tournament, if it isn’t the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, will receive a briefcase to challenge for the title at the Tokyo Dome next January. The title shot is usually defended a couple of times in the lead-up to the Tokyo Dome show.
For this year’s G1, every show will air live on New Japan World with English commentary available. Here are the full blocks for the tournament:
A Block —
- Togi Makabe
- Michael Elgin
- Hiroshi Tanahashi
- Kazuchika Okada
- Jay White
- YOSHI-HASHI
- Bad Luck Fale
- Hangman Page
- EVIL
- Minoru Suzuki
B Block —
- Juice Robinson
- Hirooki Goto
- Tomohiro Ishii
- Toru Yano
- Tama Tonga
- SANADA
- Tetsuya Naito
- Zack Sabre Jr.
- Kenny Omega
- Kota Ibushi